365 Reflections

Amos ends with a picture of great judgment followed by a picture of incredible grace and restoration. Once again, the prophetic ministry is rehearsed wherein God punished strongly but restores most graciously.  Amos 9:1 (ESV) I saw the Lord standing beside the altar, and he said: “Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake, and shatter them on the heads of all the people; and those who are left of them I will kill with the sword; not one of them shall flee away; not one of them shall escape. The Lord standing beside the altar is a striking image. Amos has already decried the empty religious practices of the nation.  Amos 5:21–22 (ESV) “I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies. 22 Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them... They might have assumed the Lord was there to bless them for their empty rituals. He was not. He was there in judgment. When God shows up, it's not always a happy ev...

Isaiah 9:1-2 (ESV) But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. 2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. 3 You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. The important thing to consider here in Isaiah 9 is that God makes a promise that the northern territories in Israel will be restored the light of God. This will happen when Christ arrives as the true light giving life to all men, establishes His ministry in Galilee, and spreads the good news throughout the region. In fact, Matthew will quote this line to refer to Jesus' inaugural mission: Matthew 4:15–16 (ESV) “The land ...

The Temple is finished and it is dedication day for Solomon and the nation of Israel in 1 Kings 8. Solomon begins praying in this long chapter, giving thanks to God for fulfilling His promise to the nation and also to David, his father. Then, after all the work that was done on the temple and in the midst of the great coronation event Solomon considers something important: 1 Kings 8:27–30 (ESV)   “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! 28 Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, 29 that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. 30 And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pr...

You would think that David would want nothing to do with any person from the house of Saul. You would think he would be fully caught up in his own glory and kingdom having crushed his enemies on every side. You would think David was ready for "David-time." You would be wrong. In 2 Samuel 9, something wonderful happens for one of Saul's descendants. David is ready to bless someone for the sake of Jonathan. It just so happens that someone is a crippled boy named Mephibosheth. 2 Samuel 9:1 (ESV) And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan’s sake?” We see here that David is unlike any other ancient king. Protocol required all living descendants of a former king to be put to death. But David does the opposite. He seeks out any living member of the house of Saul to BLESS! Let's see who he finds: 2 Samuel 9:3–5 (ESV) Ziba (Saul's servant) said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he...

God will have a people for Himself. Even human sin and Divine wrath cannot thwart His purpose in this regard. Consider well that after the long chapter of warning in Deuteronomy 28 and the reinforcement of the Covenant in chapter 29, Deuteronomy 30 follows with one of the most HOPE-filled passages in all the Pentateuch: Deuteronomy 30:1-8 (ESV) "And when all these things come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you call them to mind among all the nations where the LORD your God has driven you, 2 and return to the LORD your God, you and your children, and obey his voice in all that I command you today, with all your heart and with all your soul, 3 then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the LORD your God has scattered you. 4 If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the LORD your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. ...

Psalm 53:2–3 (ESV)   God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. 3 They have all fallen away; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one. This is our natural condition. We cannot do good because we have become corrupt. We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners. Sin is not an activity before it is first a condition of our very core.  And where does it begin? Psalm 53:1 (ESV) The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity; there is none who does good. This is not talking about Atheism. It's talking about all of us. We want to live and act like there is no God. Why? Because inwardly we want to be our own God. We want to be in charge. Sin is our utterly futile attempts at killing God and taking His place. Psalm 53:4 (ESV) Have those who work evil no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat br...

John 21:1 (ESV) After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. The words, "in this way" are important for the rest of John 21. Jesus reveals himself to those same men he called out of the fishing business in a way we should appreciate. These were the men who totally blew it and backslid into their old ways. Yet there He is on the shore and calling out them as "Children." Then He helps them with a miracle catch of 153 fish and greets them ashore with a ready made breakfast ready to eat.  Amazingly, this is how Jesus chose to reveal Himself to these men. Then Jesus takes the time to personally bring Peter back into the fold. Giving him three chances to reaffirm his love for Him and the calling He has placed on Peter in service to the body of Christ. It's as if He's saying, "Peter, just has I have loved you enough to stand on the shore, call out to you, care for you an...

Mark 16:6–8 (ESV) And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” 8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. This is how the earliest and most reliable manuscripts end in the Gospel of Mark.  I remember thinking Matthew ended abruptly because it sent a message, the work of redemption is done, go to work telling people about it. But I think Mark ends so abruptly for a different reason.  In this Gospel, Mark is the writer, but Peter is the speaker.  Mark is most likely a collection of Peter's sermon materials.  Here's what I think... I think Peter couldn't get past verse 7 without tears of joy and most of his sermons ended with the...